BIOG : DAVID OWEN : BORN IN LEEDS. 17 SEPTEMBER 1963. I AM A GRAPHIC ARTIST WITH TOO MANY YEARS EXPERIENCE IN ALL AREAS OF ART, GRAPHIC DESIGN, ADVERTISING & PRINT.
I AM HIGHLY INDIVIDUAL WITH A SOMEWHAT UNCONVENTIONAL WORLDVIEW - A WEIRD SLANT TOWARDS POP ART WITH A TWIST OF CARNIVAL THROWN IN FOR GOOD MEASURE - A BASTARD SON OF JOSEPH CORNELL AND PETER BLAKE. I'M HANDY WITH A SCALPEL AND AN APPLE MAC. I KNOW WHAT "RIGHT READING EMULSION SIDE DOWN" MEANS.

I LIVE IN WHITBY.

MUCH OF MY WORK IS CONCERNED WITH FOLK MUSIC AND ITS IMAGE. FOLK MUSIC
IS USUALLY PORTRAYED, OR PERCEIVED, AS ANCIENT, PASTORAL, VINTAGE, FROZEN IN TIME
- THE USUAL STEREOTYPES OF BEARDS, JUMPERS AND FINGERS-IN-EARS. BUT FOLK MUSIC
IS AN EVOLVING, LIVING, CONTEMPORARY VEHICLE FOR TRANSMITTING STORIES AND IDEAS, LIVES,
LOVES AND FEARS - THE HUMAN CONDITION. FOLK SONGS HAVE EVOLVED OVER DECADES
AND ACROSS GENERATIONS, SOME OVER CENTURIES. NAMES GET CHANGED, LOCATIONS GET MOVED, MODERN EVENTS ARE INCORPORATED, THE SONGS GROW, CHANGE SHAPE, ADAPT, EVOLVE,
AND MUTATE. WHEN CECIL SHARP, VAUGHAN WILLIAMS ET AL TRAVELLED THE COUNTRY
TO COLLECT AND RECORD THE SONGS, THEY INADVERTANTLY 'FROZE' THEM IN THEIR RECORDINGS AND WRITINGS. THEY HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY BEEN SEEN, BY SOME, AS COMPLETE, FINISHED
AND DEFINITIVE. FOLK SONGS ARE DEAD UNLESS THEY CONTINUE TO BE SUNG, TOLD,EXCHANGED, RE-WORKED, ADAPTED AND RE-INTERPRETED.

FOLK MUSICIANS BREATHE NEW LIFE INTO THE SONGS AND MOVE THEM FORWARD BY "TRAD/ARR"
- TAKING THE TRADITIONAL SONG AND ARRANGING IT IN THEIR OWN STYLE AND PERHAPS CHANGING EVENTS, PLACES & NAMES ETC TO REFLECT THE TIMES THEY LIVE IN AND THEIR OWN LIVES.
I HAVE APPLIED THIS SAME PRINCIPLE TO MY WORK.

AS A VISUAL ARTIST ( AND RUBBISH GUITAR PLAYER ! ) I HAVE HAD TO FIND WAYS TO INTERPRET
THE THEMES, IMAGES AND STORIES IN A VISUAL LANGUAGE TO DEMONSTRATE THAT FOLK MUSIC
IS CONTEMPORARY, MODERN, RELEVANT AND ALSO BEAUTIFUL, SAD, AND FUNNY. FOLK MUSIC HAS
ALWAYS BEEN WITH US, THROUGH NUMEROUS STYLES, FASHIONS AND FADS, YET IT HAS RARELY
BENEFITTED FROM THEM. IT WAS ASSIGNED AN IMAGE FROM SOME MYTHICAL BYGONE AGE
- A STRANGE SEPIA SNAPSHOT OR RUSTIC WOODCUT THAT IT FINDS IMPOSSIBLE TO SHAKE OFF.

SOME OF MY WORK IS SERIOUS, SOME HUMOROUS, SOMETIMES A PASTICHE, SOMETIMES
AN IMITATION, SOMETIMES A BLATANT RIP-OFF. SOME IS THERE TO MAKE YOU THINK, LAUGH,
INSPIRE YOU OR PROVOKE YOU TO FIND OUT MORE.

MY GRIEVANCE IS NOT WITH POLLY SWALLOW OR FRANK MEADOW SUTCLIFFE BUT WITH THE LAZY
AND STEREOTYPICAL IMAGERY THAT THE MEDIA AND EVEN SOME PROPONENTS OF THE TRADITION
INSIST ON USING TO REPRESENT OUR VIBRANT AND IMPORTANT MUSICAL LIFEFORCE.

David Owen